Imaginary Bodies: Ethics, Power and Corporeality

Description

This text investigates the ways in which differently sexed bodies can occupy the same social or political space. Representations of sexual difference have unacknowledged philosophical roots which cannot be dismissed as a superficial bias on the part of the philosopher, be he Aristotle or Lacan, nor removed without destroying the coherence of the philosophical system concerned. The deep structural bias against women extends beyond metaphysics and its effects are felt in epistemology, moral, social and political theory. The idea of sexual difference is contextualized in the study and traced through the history of philosophy. Through her work on Spinoza, Gatens develops alternative conceptions of power, new ways of conceiving women's embodiment, and their legal, political and ethical status.

"Moira Gatens offers the most convincing and sympathetic reading of Irigaray's claims for the primacy of sexual difference, while arguing that it is crucial "to resist the temptation...to replace one body with two, one ethic with two, one reason with two..""-"Religious Studies Review, January 1999 Vol 25, No 1 "The arguments that Gatens develops and the parallels she introduces are compelling, bringing a well-informed historical perspective to a thorough knowledge of feminist theory, philosophy, and psychoanalysis."---Tina Chanter, University of Memphis